There are some bands that you get hipped to right from the beginning and know that with every future release, you’re going to get something special, especially when they take their time in between releases to curate and craft the project. The Cromagnon Band hailing from the UK fits one such notion and have been quietly working on their follow up to 2022’s “Dismantle” LP with the upcoming “Mode” which is set to once again, pique interests and have ears standing at attention.
Mode is an album borne of the Cromagnon Band’s creative process of taking breaks they love from the tracks they love, made by the artists they love and then jamming live in the studio until something new evolves that has taken a long journey away from the source. Taking the grooves they composed in these sessions the band reverse engineered what they created and produced the final tracks as a creative trio. From start to finish the whole process is paradoxically both constrained and given creative spontaneity by the 100% live jam creative technique.
The purely instrumental tracks on Mode represent music for the sake of music with no specific narrative but which allow space for the listener to make their own interpretations and create their own mental images. The mood is transcendental and transporting with as many ideas packed into each track as possible. The sound is cinematic and psychedelic dark Funk that showcases the band members’ musical pedigrees and heritage as music lovers; Nordic psych/jazz, classical, boom-bap Hip-Hop breaks and riff heavy rock a la early Black Sabbath.